Andean Indigenous artisans mostly buy raw hides from local farmers instead of wholesale sellers, and they refuse to use chemicals and prefer an ancient highland process.

“My father taught me everything I know. We collect the huarango tree seeds and boil them to get a dark liquid, which is a perfect natural leather tanner, … we prefer it this way. We’re proud to be highlanders, and we want to preserve our Andean traditions of tanning leather,” says a Cotacachi native.

Cowhides, llama pelts and goat skins are in various stages of processing, stacked and covered in salt, steeping in lime or tanning in a large barrel.  The skins and hides are then worked on with simple tools: a smooth stone to scrape the remaining meat from a raw hide; stone and wood barrels to hold and process the skins. The process results in the following:

• Vegetable-tanned leather is well-tolerated by individuals with allergies and sensitivities to metals, because of the total absence of heavy metals in its tanning process.
• Animals destined to the food industry are almost exclusively the source of hides used for tanning. No one animal is killed only for its skin. On the contrary, if these hides were not up-cycled through the tanning activity, they would be a large problem in terms of waste disposal.
• Vegetable-tanned leather has unmistakable aesthetic characteristics, such as a distinctive naturalness and roundness and a gentle, warm and silky touch.